Francis Vines believes his side earned the right to be considered genuine title contenders after the way they battled back to draw with leaders Nuneaton Borough on Saturday.

It appeared the Reds were heading for their first defeat in ten games when they found themselves 2-0 down against a rampant Borough after just 21 minutes.

But goals from Kevin Hemsley just before the break and Jay Richardson early in the second half ensured the bumper crowd of 1,864 went home happy as Crawley secured a valuable point to stay in touch at the top of the table.

Asked whether the character shown to recover from Nuneaton's early onslaught was proof that Crawley could win the league, Vines said: "Why not? I have never doubted that we can compete with the very best sides in this division.

"Nuneaton looked good in the first 25 minutes and we weren't really in the game to begin with but we showed a bit of steel to come back strongly and I thought we could have won in the end.

"The good thing is that we still have more to come because we are missing four or five experienced players through injury so if we can hang in there until they are all fit, then we will have a very good chance of winning the league."

Such thoughts must have been the furthest thing from Vines' mind in the early stages of the game as Borough strikers Brian Quailey and Gez Murphy tormented the Crawley defence.

The pressure told in the 16th minute when Quailey looked to control the ball with his hand in the area and placed a shot past Andy Little while the Crawley players appealed for a free kick.

Five minutes later it was 2-0 when Quailey raced clear and although his shot was saved by Little the rebound was pounced on by Mark Clifford who scored with the simplest of finishes.

The home side were in danger of conceding a third but they somehow managed to hold on and were handed a lifeline six minutes before half time when Hemsley bundled the ball in at the far post from the impressive Mo Harkin's cross.

The equaliser arrived seven minutes after the restart in almost farcical circumstances. Daniel Marney's 20-yard drive came back off the post to Carl Wilson-Denis who looked certain to score with goalkeeper Darren Acton sprawled on the floor.

However, the Albion loan striker somehow managed to hit the upright under pressure from Terry Angus and it was left to Richardson to stab the ball over the line as Acton tried to scramble it clear.

Crawley had their tails up but they could not find a winner, and almost lost when Quailey blazed over from five yards, leaving Vines with mixed emotions.

"I am happy with a point considering the position we were in after 20 minutes but I was a little disappointed we didn't get all three points.

"When we got it back to 2-2 and there was half an hour still to go I thought there was only going to be one winner after that but we didn't push on enough in search of that third goal.

"Their first goal was clearly handball and but for that we would have beaten one of the best sides in this league so I'm not too upset."

Crawley: Little, Judge, Dean (Payne 65), Hemsley, Ready, Smith, Harkin, Richardson, Wilson-Denis, Marney, Brake (Gregory 72). Subs not used: Hooper, Forde, Pullan.

Nuneaton: Acton, Hoyle, Love, Collins, Moore, Angus, Clifford, McGorry, Quailey, Murphy (Corbet 62), Whittaker. Subs not used: Lamb, Tullin, White, Beckford-Quailey.

Referee: Simon Beck (Shoeburyness).

Attendance: 1,864.

Man-of-the-match: Mo Harkin (Crawley).